Drug addicts and drunks are still blighting an area of Brighton which is hoping to attract tourists.

More than £10,000 is being spent on a brochure promoting St James's Street in Kemp Town but traders say while steps have been taken to transform the area, it remains a hot spot for antisocial behaviour.

The Argus has reported how traders have scrubbed pavements to clear up the street and received £2,600 to use their shops as refuges for victims of street crime.

Police say regular blitzes in the area have reduced crime.

But Bill Grant, who has traded as Grant Family Wear for more than 14 years, says the area is still a magnet for drunks, heroin addicts and beggars, who deter people from visiting.

Mr Grant said: "I can't imagine what impression tourists have when they come up here.

"A lot of money has been spent and there may be some nice shop fronts but that does not take away the drunks and drug addicts.

"Alcoholics and addicts collect their benefits from the post office on Thursday and Friday and buy whatever they are into. People are frightened to come here, particularly the elderly."

Mike O'Connell, who runs estate agents Blakers in the street, said he was exasperated by the behaviour of some people.

He said: "One of them sat in the street openly smoking a joint and no one did anything.

"These people were moved on for a while but we have a new generation and we're back to square one. When will someone come down here to sort it out?"

Brighton and Hove City Council spent thousands improving the layout of the area and street drinking was banned in a bid to solve the problem of drunks.

But traders say it means nothing if the law is not enforced.

Mr Grant said: "We are prisoners in our own homes here. The elderly don't get much help.

"They come in here with a few pence to buy a pair of socks while these drug addicts and alcoholics get handouts and blow it all on booze."

A council spokesman said: "The council has improved St James's Street beyond recognition, which is why businesses are moving in.

"If someone is reported committing an offence such as street drinking, the police will respond.

"But we don't live in the kind of society where authorities can get rid of individuals simply because somebody doesn't like the look of them."

A brochure promoting St James's Street is set to be distributed to tourist offices across Britain, funded by a £7,000 grant from the European Urban Fund and £3,500 raised by traders.

A Brighton police spokeswoman said Chief Inspector Stuart Harrison had been holding monthly meetings with traders.

Officers had been mapping the quality of life for people in the street and making an average of seven arrests per week for alcohol-related offences and further arrests for other crimes.

Additional officers had been assigned to the area and Mr Harrison had received many letters of support saying how the area had improved.